BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXI 



The passage was a good one, unbroken by storms or fogs, 

 and although very ill during the first part of the voyage, by 

 the time the Laurel entered the Gulf Mrs. Traill had quite 

 recovered her health. The trip up the river was a slow one ; 

 there was little wind, and they had to depend largely on the 

 tide for their onward progress, tacking constantly to take 

 advantage of what breeze there was, and casting anchor 

 when the tide turned. They were also delayed waiting for a 

 pilot, and did not reach Quebec until late on the evening of 

 August 15th, and on the 17th cast anchor before Montreal. 



The Traills went to the Nelson Hotel until they could have 

 their baggage passed through the Custom house, always a 

 tedious business, and particularly so at that date. The 

 weather was intensely hot. Cholera was raging in the city, 

 and before the two days of delay had expired Mrs. Traill was 

 stricken down with the terrible disease. She was tenderly 

 cared for by a woman in the inn, a sister of the proprietor, 

 to whose fearless devotion, as well as to the skilful treatment 

 of Dr. Caldwell, she owed her recovery. Worn out by fyis 

 untiring efforts among the cholera patients, this devoted 

 physician fell a victim to the disease about a mpnth later. 



Athough narrowly escaping death, the recuperative vitality 

 which has ever been the characteristic feature of the family, 

 enabled her to recover quickly, and on the 29th, Mrs. Traill 

 was sufficiently restored to health to continue her journey by 

 stage to Lachine, and thence by boat and stage to Prescott, 

 where they took their passage on board the Great Britain, 

 then the largest and best steamer on the route. 



In the sketch, " Sunset and Sunrise on Lake Ontario," Mrs. 

 Traill gives an account of the journey from Brockville to 

 Cobourg. On September 9th, they left Cobourg in a light 

 waggon for the shores of Rice Lake, there to take the steamer 

 for Peterborough, in the neighborhood of which place Mrs. 

 Traill's brother, who had emigrated to Canada some years 

 before, had lately settled. 



